Man City @ Home post match thread 0 - 0

[StanSP]

Oh, forgot to mention that little shit.

 

...he's a little shit isn't he.

 

I saw this as a notification on my phone and it thought it related to Craig Pawson. Then seen I hadn't even mentioned him yet .

 

What a crazy man that referee is. Some extremely bizarre decisions today. Especially when Mahrez was injured, Hart kicks it to Aguero but shanks it. Yet we have to give the ball back lol

[ScouseFox]

[Babylon]

anyone think the refs have took a look at all our decsions this season had a chat and in the last 2 games gave the oppostion much more advantage on that basis, no major game changers but just frustrating decsions.

I can't point to particular decisions tonight but he was utter shit. Managed to create a game with almost no flow, all on his own.

[StanSP]

He was born in Manchester. I don't get how he can referee games involving those 2 sides?!

[ajthefox]

whilst kante was better than sterling and morgan was head and shoulders above both of them put together, sterling was very good in the first half. if city were going to score or threaten it was going to be him. bt obviously wanted to choose a man city player and he was their best by a distance. 

Wouldn't disagree with any of that.

 

I would've given it to Wes too, but just couldn't believe they gave it to an attacking player in a 0-0, particularly given the abundance of talent they have.

[ScouseFox]

 

otamendi done this to vards then cried when huth stroked his face what a melon 

[StanSP]

 

otamendi done this to vards then cried when huth stroked his face what a melon 

 

vardy could have died imo

[EGBFitness]

Our pitch has to be up their as one of the best in the league/country. Watched Man Uts game yesterday and touch line was wearing away, you'd think that picture was taken from a night pre season friendly game. I think BT commentators even commented on it.

One thing I would say is I hate the cut pattern. Call me old fashioned but prefer the standards line cut with no silly patterns

[Babylon]

otamendi done this to vards then cried when huth stroked his face what a melon

Nothing wrong with that... Said the twat in black

[EGBFitness]

otamendi done this to vards then cried when huth stroked his face what a melon

The guy is an utter clown

[Monsell1976]

I love it when the oppo break clear, you nervously glance about to see what city players are near by... You see the closest is Kante and you happily just sit back in your chair awaiting the inevitable tackle, interception and counter without a care in the world.

All the talk of big money moves for vardy and mahrez in Jan and fans concerned we will lose them, for me worry about the summer when the bigger clubs come in for kante.

Love the little lad, what he does for the team is a lot of the reason we are, where we are.

And for bt to give the man of the match to sterling over him was a joke, kante was the standout player again for me tonight.

[Vestan Pance]

whilst kante was better than sterling and morgan was head and shoulders above both of them put together, sterling was very good in the first half. if city were going to score or threaten it was going to be him. bt obviously wanted to choose a man city player and he was their best by a distance.

A City fan calling Man City 'City' you are confusing me;-)

[ScouseFox]

A City fan calling Man City 'City' you are confusing me;-)

 

ive always called us leicester. think its cos theres only one footy team in leicester. 

[dylanlegend]

A little disappointed. Hopefully it is just the way we set up against the bigger teams but we seem to be less attacking recently. we are the team to watch as we play exciting attacking football, I just hope we go back to this style of play as its so Entertaining, win lose or draw. Also now we are at 39 points we have nothing to lose. Let's just go for it again please!

[foxes_rule1978]

A little disappointed. Hopefully it is just the way we set up against the bigger teams but we seem to be less attacking recently. we are the team to watch as we play exciting attacking football, I just hope we go back to this style of play as its so Entertaining, win lose or draw. Also now we are at 39 points we have nothing to lose. Let's just go for it again please!

we played great today... defended brilliantly and had our chances... the elite sides need a certain respect or you end up with what happened against Arsenal. We basically did what title challengers do against other title challengers

[trabuch]

Our pitch has to be up their as one of the best in the league/country. Watched Man Uts game yesterday and touch line was wearing away, you'd think that picture was taken from a night pre season friendly game. I think BT commentators even commented on it.

One thing I would say is I hate the cut pattern. Call me old fashioned but prefer the standards line cut with no silly patterns

 

I dunno - the pitch the fans the team the manager the physios the scouts... you know - we are the bollocks at the moment. We are the best "team" in the league.

[davieG]

Leicester City will go into the New Year level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, after an uneventful – but tactically interesting – scoreless draw against Manchester City.

Both managers sprung tactical surprises here, by deviating from their preferred starting shapes. Rather than the narrow, ultra-compact 4-4-2 that he usually favours, Claudio Ranieri instead opted for a 4-1-4-1 shape, with Gokhan Inler holding. This change was presumably motivated by the Italian’s perceived need to pay extra attention to City’s number ten, David Silva.

Unfortunately for Ranieri, his opposite number did not start with a number ten – rendering his tactical tweak completely unnecessary. Instead, Manuel Pellegrini returned to his Malaga roots by selecting a 4-4-2, with Silva on the left and Raheem Sterling joining Sergio Aguero up top.

This decision from the Chilean made a lot of sense, particularly when you look at how much joy Divock Origi got from running the channels on Sunday, against Leicester’s slow centre-back pairing of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan. Pellegrini may have concluded that the best way to exploit The Foxes’ most glaring weakness was to play with two strikers – to ensure that one centre-back could not permanently play on the cover.

Like Liverpool before them, City augmented this strategy by adding a lot more directness to their passing style. By moving the ball quicker and over larger distances, City were aiming to both nullify Leicester’s fantastic counter-pressing and catch their slow defensive line on the turn before they dropped deep.

Witness Bacary Sagna’s contribution to chance-creation in the first half. The right-back played two chipped long balls to send Sterling through in behind the Leicester defence, with the first resulting in a half-chance for Kevin De Bruyne and the second providing Kasper Schmeichel the opportunity to dramatically deny the young English winger.

Meanwhile, Leicester’s usual counter-attacking verve was being hampered by the absence of a strike partner for Jamie Vardy. And, of course, with Inler finding himself with no-one to mark due to City’s change of shape, that Ranieri pre-match caution was looking pretty foolish.

Vardy’s only chance – a big one – stemmed not from a fast-break, but from his usual heroic work-rate, when he dispossessed Fernandinho, only to blaze over with the goal at his mercy. Otherwise, apart from a couple of hairy moments, Nicolas Otamendi was able to deal with Vardy single-handedly, with Elaquim Mangala more or less redundant on the cover.

It was no surprise therefore, when Ranieri finally reverted to 4-4-2 in the 67th minute, through the introduction of Leonardo Ulloa. Too little too late however, as the home side went on to create only one further half-chance – after the excellent Danny Drinkwater dispossessed Touré and played Vardy through down the inside-left.

Pellegrini’s major in-game tactical gambit was to introduce Jesus Navas on the right, in a bid to add some genuine width to stretch that compact Leicester defence. It didn’t pan out. Nor did the wide contribution of Aleksander Kolarov from left-back, whose deliveries were uncharacteristically below-par. Meanwhile, those dangerous first-half balls over the top had long been nullified by excellent counter-pressing and more restrained positioning from Leicester’s defensive unit.

All in all, this was a pretty attritional scoreless draw in truth, but certainly one worthy of analysis. Ranieri’s tactical variation to take David Silva into account hampered his side’s counter-attacking and was rendered redundant by Pellegrini’s designs on catching his centre-backs on the turn. Look for him to keep the 4-4-2 faith going forward.

Also published at Tactics Truck v2.0